Dicerna raises $13 million

RNA interference company Dicerna (Boston, Mass.) raised $13 million in a series A round led by Oxford Bioscience Partners and Skyline Ventures. The company also announced that it licensed IP from the City of Hope (Duarte, Calif.) covering therapeutic use of dsDNA processed in situ into siRNA by means of the human Dicer enzyme. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Dicerna plans to identify and begin development of its first formal preclinical programs by the end of 2008, and to submit its first IND by the end of 2009. ...